ON THE SHELF: Get lost in the latest Popular Fiction

Published 8:00 am Sunday, May 14, 2023

This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

This week’s column features new titles for some of our popular fiction series. These can be found in the New Adult Fiction collection.

The 18th entry in C.S. Harris’s “Sebastian St. Cyr” series is called “Who Cries for the Lost.” In June 1815, Sabastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, finds himself waiting breathlessly with the rest of London for news as Napoleon and the forces united against him march toward Waterloo. Sebastian has been sidelined while recovering from a dangerous wound he recently received in Paris. He is drawn into the investigation of the murder of Major Miles Sedgewick when the man’s mutilated body is found floating in the Thames. One of Sebastian’s oldest and dearest friends, Irish surgeon Paul Gibson, is suspected because Paul’s lover, Alexi Sauvage, had been tricked into a bigamous marriage with the victim. Sedgewick’s mistress, his neglected wife and their young governess, whom he seduced, are also compelling suspects. The deeper Sebastian delves into Sedgewick’s life, the more he learns about the man’s many secrets and the list of people who wanted him dead grows even longer. Soon others connected to the Major begin to die strange, brutal deaths and more evidence links Alexi to the crimes. To prevent his friend Gibson from being implicated along with his lover, Sebastian finds himself in a race against time to stop the murders and save his friends from the gallows.

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“Bad, Bad Seymour Brown” is the second installment of “the Corie Geller” series by Susan Isaacs. Former FBI agent Corie Geller asked her parents to move from their apartment into the expansive suburban home Corie shares with her husband and teenage daughter. When her retired NYPD detective father gets a call from a good-natured and slightly nerdy film professor April Brown. April is a victim of one of the cases Corie’s father was unable to solve. She had managed to survive unharmed from an arson that killed her parents. Corie and her father jumped into the investigation when April is attacked. April’s late father, Seymour Brown, was the go-to money launderer for the Russian mob. He was also known to be a mercurial and violent man who loved Swiss watches and cheating on his wife. April had no enemies. She was well-liked by her students, admired by her colleagues and her only connection to crime was her passion for noir movies from Hollywood’s golden age. Corie and her dad race to find out who would want April dead now and who set the horrific fire that killed her parents?

Peter Robinson’s “Inspector Banks No. 28” is titled “Standing in the Shadows.” In November 1980, Nick Hartley returns home from a university class to find his house crawling with police. Alice Poole, his ex-girlfriend, had been found murdered and her new boyfriend Mark Woodcroft was missing. Nick is the prime suspect, but the case goes cold. Nick doesn’t let Alice’s case fade in his memory, he embarks on a career in investigative journalism determined to find her murderer. His obsession leads him down a dark path. In November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that is far more recent than the Roman remains she is seeking. DS Alan Banks and his team are called in to investigate, but there is little evidence to be gleaned from the remains themselves. Banks and his team must rely on their own wits to track down a killer. As these two cases collide, the investigations twist and turn and send the team hurtling to an explosive conclusion.

The second installment in John Sandford’s “Letty Davenport” series is called “Dark Angel.” Letty Davenport is the tough-as-nails adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport. Her days of working a desk job are behind her thanks to her actions at a gunfight in Texas — and her skill with firearms. She has drawn the attention of several branches of the U.S. government and her skills make her perfect for more dangerous assignments. The Department of Homeland Security and the NSA ask her to infiltrate a hacker group, known as Ordinary People, who are intent on wreaking havoc. Letty and her reluctant partner from the NSA pose as free-spirited programmers for hire and find themselves going on a cross-country road trip to the group’s California headquarters. As they investigate more, Letty and her partner begin to suspect that the hackers are not their only enemies. Someone on the inside may have betrayed them and now their lives are in grave danger.

“City of Dreams” is the second book in the “Danny Ryan” series by Don Winslow. Danny Ryan is on the run after coming up on the losing side of a bloody East Coast crime war. The Mafia, the cops and the FBI all want him dead or in prison. Danny has his little boy, his elderly father and what is left of his loyal crew of soldiers in tow as he makes his way to California for a new life. The Feds manage to track him down and ask Danny to do them a favor that could make him a fortune or kill him. When Hollywood starts shooting a film based on his former life, Danny demands a piece of the action and decides to rebuild his criminal empire. He then falls in love with a beautiful actress who has a dark past of her own.

Lucy Score returns to her Knockemout series with “Things We Hide from the Light.” In this second installment, we learn about Knox’s brother Nash’s story. Nash Morgan was always known as the good Morgan brother and always had a smile and a wink for everyone. This chief of police is now recovering from being shot and his Southern charm is overshadowed by panic attacks and nightmares. He’s not about to let anyone know that he’s struggling. His neighbor, Lina, sees through his façade to Nash’s shadows. As a rule, Lina doesn’t like to be touched unless she initiates it, but Nash’s embrace is different. It’s too bad Lina has secrets of her own, and she’s afraid Nash will never forgive her. Besides, Lina doesn’t do relationships — ever. However, once Nash decides to make Lina his, he’s not about to be discouraged — even if it means facing the danger that nearly killed him.